Daily Defense Podcast

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#346 Security and Sonship - Jimmy Akin Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

DAY 346 CHALLENGE “Believers are eternally secure in their salvation. We cannot lose our salvation because when we come to God and believe, we become his sons (John 1:12–13; Rom. 8:14–23; Gal. 4:3–6; 1 John 3:1). And once you are a son, you can’t cease to be a son.” DEFENSE This presses the concept of sonship beyond its limits and fails to do justice to other things the biblical text indicates. First, the concept of Christian sonship involves a metaphor. We are not children of God the way we are children of our earthly parents. Furthermore, Scripture uses this metaphor in more than on...

#345 Religion versus Relationship - Jimmy Akin Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

DAY 345 CHALLENGE “God doesn’t want us to have religion; he just wants us to have a relationship with him.” DEFENSE This is not the biblical way of thinking. Linguists are familiar with a phenomenon that occurs when a new way of talking about a subject is introduced. At first, it may be perceived as innovative and attention-getting. If it becomes popular, however, it loses these connotations and becomes a standard mode of expression. Eventually, it may become so rote that it loses its rhetorical punch and people start looking for a new, more arresting way to express the idea. We see ...

#344 Purgatory in 1 Corinthians - Jimmy Akin Dec 10, 2023

Show notes

DAY 344 CHALLENGE “1 Corinthians 3 isn’t a good text for purgatory: (1) Paul speaks of ministers, not ordinary people; (2) their works are being tested, not them; and (3) this happens at Judgment Day, not the end of life.” DEFENSE None of these objections deprive the passage of its evidential value. First, in 1 Corinthians 3:10–17, Paul uses a metaphor comparing the Corinthian church to a temple. He laid its foundation, and others are now building on that. In the surrounding context, Paul refers to other ministers (Apollos and Peter), but he doesn’t limit his remarks to ministers. He s...

#343 Non-Christian Miracles - Jimmy Akin Dec 09, 2023

Show notes

DAY 343 CHALLENGE “Why should I be Christian when other religions report miracles? Why would God even allow non-Christians to have miracles?” DEFENSE There are several explanations for reports of miracles in non-Christian circles, but none undermine the value of Christianity’s central miracle, the Resurrection. There are reports of supernatural phenomena in religions all over the world, but most are minor and are not investigated, and so their actual status is unclear. Some may be misinterpreted natural phenomena, some may be imaginary, and some may be frauds. (This applies to phenom...

#342 Imprecatory Psalms - Jimmy Akin Dec 08, 2023

Show notes

DAY 342 CHALLENGE “Some psalms contain violent and bloodthirsty language that calls down wrath upon (imprecates) one’s enemies.” DEFENSE The key to understanding these is recognizing their genre and the modes of language they employ. The psalms were written in a world in which people experienced many violent acts that were bound to stir up powerful emotions. Expressing an emotion, however, is not the same thing as literally performing an act, much less does it mean God would approve of literally performing the act. The psalms thus use hyperbolic language to express emotions without imp...

#341 How Many Good Works? - Jimmy Akin Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

DAY 341 CHALLENGE “Catholics can’t have assurance of salvation because the Church teaches justification by faith plus works, meaning that they will always have to be wondering whether they have done enough good works to be justified and enter heaven.” DEFENSE This is not what the Church teaches. We elsewhere cover the fact that the Church does not use the phrase “justification by faith and works” (see Day 222). What the Church does teach is that “in those who are born again God hates nothing, because there is no condemnation to those who are truly buried together with Christ by bapti...

#340 Reincarnation and the Bible - Jimmy Akin Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

DAY 340 CHALLENGE “The Bible originally taught reincarnation, but the relevant passages were struck out by the Council of Nicaea.” DEFENSE This claim is not credible for numerous reasons. First, the surviving records of the First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) and the Second Council of Nicaea (A.D. 787), as well as the writings of those who took part in them, give no indication the topic of reincarnation was even discussed, much less was anything as dramatic as taking passages out of the Bible contemplated. Second, the fathers of these councils regarded Scripture as the inspired word of ...

#339 The Use of Alcohol - Jimmy Akin Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

DAY 339 CHALLENGE “Catholics are wrong to allow the use of alcohol. Jesus would never have approved of it. In the Bible, there were two types of wine—fermented and unfermented—and only the second, also known as ‘new wine,’ is ever endorsed.” DEFENSE The Bible contains multiple warnings against drunkenness (Prov. 20:1, Isa. 5:11–12, Luke 21:34, 1 Cor. 6:10, Eph. 5:18). But it does not condemn the moderate use of alcohol. In the biblical languages, as in English, the term “wine” (Hebrew, yayin; Greek, oinos) is used to refer to the fermented juice of grapes. Even “new wine” was ferment...

#338 Unanswered Prayer - Jimmy Akin Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

DAY 338 CHALLENGE “Unanswered prayer disproves Christ’s teaching on prayer. Jesus said, ‘If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you’ (Matt. 17:20b). But experience shows that we can’t do such things by prayer.” DEFENSE Jesus’ teaching is more complex than this challenge suggests. It doesn’t involve a promise that we’ll always get what we ask. First, Jesus makes the statement when the disciples have just failed to exorcise a demon. When they ask why they were unable to dr...

#337 Extraordinary Claims, Extraordinary Evidence - Jimmy Akin Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

DAY 337 CHALLENGE “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Religion makes extraordinary claims, therefore we must have extraordinary evidence for them.” DEFENSE This depends on what you mean by “extraordinary.” In its original sense, extraordinary refers to things outside of or different from the ordinary. It thus refers to anything uncommon. However, the term has acquired an additional sense, according to which extraordinary refers to things that are startling, overwhelming, or awe-inspiring. Used this way, the term becomes subjective, because different people find different...

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